Tool for making electrical connections



J1me 1966 R. F. COBAUGH ETAL 3,254,397

TOOL FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS Filed Jan. 25. 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l June 7, 1966 R. F. COBAUGH ETAL 3,254,397

TOOL FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS 2 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 25 196E United States Patent 3,254,397 TOOL FOR MAKING ELECTRICAL CONNECTIONS Robert Franklin Cobaugh, Hershey, and William Roderick Over, Harrisburg, Pa., assignors to AMP Incorporated, Harrisburg, Pa.

Filed Jan. 25, 1965, Ser. No. 427,849 6 Claims. (Cl. 29--2tl3) This invention relates to a device for making electrical connections between conductors and terminal posts.

The co-pending-application of Robert F. Cobaugh, Serial No. 171,074, filed February 2, 1962, discloses. a method and apparatus for connecting a conductor to a terminal post by means of a clip which is telescopically movable onto the post and which holds the conductor against a surface of the post to establish the electrical connection. Application Serial No. 171,074 describes automatic and semi-automatic clip-applying mechanisms by means of which electrical connections can be made relatively rapidly and, if desired, under the guidance of a program control system.

The present invention, in accordance with one aspect thereof, relates to an extremely compact and relatively simple hand tool for making clip-type electrical connections. A tool in accordance with this aspect of the invention is ordinarily used for making occasional connections or in servicing the connections, of a previously wired apparatus for purposes of repair or modification.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the terminal clip is pushed onto the terminal post under circumstances permitting a continuous observation over the force required to affect movement of the clip of the post. This aspect of the invention is of significance in the art of clip-type electrical connections for the reason that it has been found that the electrical and mechanical integrity of a clip-type electrical connection can be predicted from a knowledge of the force required to push the clip onto the post. It thus becomes possible to certify a clip-type electrical connection at the time the connection is made if this pushing force is observed and found to be within the prescribed limits.

It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide an improved device for making clip-type electrical connections. A further object is to provide a compact hand tool for making clip-type electrical connections which utilizes terminal clips in end-to-end strip form. A still further object is to provide a hand tool for making cliptype eletcrical connections having means for trimming the wire to be connected, means for positioning a clip and wire on the tip portion of the post, and means for ush ing the clip and wire downwardly with respect to the post. A further object is to provide a tool having means for determining the quality of a clip-type electrical connection while the connection is being made. k

These and other objects of the invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment thereof comprising an elongated guide tube having a passageway extending therethrough which is adapted to receive a strip of end-to-end connected terminal clips. A sleeve member is slidably mounted on the guide tube in a manner such that one end of the guide tube projects axially beyond the sleeve. A spring means is interposed between the sleeve and the tube and normally biases the one end of the tube to a predetermined extended position with respect to the corresponding end of the sleeve. Means are provided on the projecting end of the tube for engagement with a clip which has been previously assembled to the clip portion of a terminal post. This projecting end of the guide tube is utilized to push the clip further onto the post with concomitant deflection or compression of the spring means in a manner such that the projecting end of the guide tube is partially telescoped into the sleeve. The extent of the ice telescopic movement of the tube into the sleeve, which is controlled by the stiffness of the spring means, gives an indication of the pushing force being exterted on. the clip and thereby gives an indication of the quality (that is, the electrical and mechanical integrity) of the electrical connection being made. The other end of the sleeve is provided with a pair of resilient fingers which extend parallel to the other end of the guide tube. The ends of these fingers are resiliently movable towards and away from the guide tube and are provided with means for severing the leading terminal :clip of a strip of clips contained in the guide tube from end of the tube.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hand tool in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a short section of strip of end-to-end connected terminal clips; I

FIGURE 3 is a view showing a clip-type electrical con nection between a wire and a terminal post;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional side view of the tool of FIG- URE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional side view on an enlarged scale showing the left-hand end of the tool a shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURES 6 and 7 are views illustrating the application of a terminal clip and a wire to the tip of a terminal post;

FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary view illustrating the use of the right-hand end of the tool to push a terminal clip onto a terminal post; and

FIGURES 9 and 10 are end views of the tool as viewed from the left and right-hand ends thereof in FIGURE 1.

A common type of terminal clip for making clip-type connections is manufactured in end-to-end strip form 2 (FIGURE 2) with each clip being integral with the next adjacent clip but with a slight gap 11 being provided between adjacent clips of the strip. Each clip comprises a web 4 having sidewalls 6 extending from its longitudinal edges, these sidewalls being reversely curled towards each other and towards the underside of the web shown at 8. An outwardly cupped insulation support 10 is provided between the sidewalls 8 at one end of the web for the accommodation of the insulation of the wire at its point of emergence from the clip. In the finished clip-type connection (FIGURE 3), the stripped end 14 of the wire is contained between the web and a surface of a terminal post 16 and extends downwardly towards the base of the post emerging from its confined relationship at the insulation support 10. The clip holds the wire against the surface of the post with a degree of force sufiicient to establish a low resistance and highly stable electrical connection.

A preferred form of hand tool 18 in accordance with the invention (FIGURES 1 and 4) comprises an elongated guide tube 20 having a sleeve 22 slidably mounted thereon intermediate its ends. of two sections 24, 26 which are threaded together as shown at 28. The section 26 is counterbored to provide a cavity 27. The sleeve section 24 provides a rightwardly face shoulder 30, as viewed in FIGURE 4, in this Sleeve 22 is composed- The one end 36 of tube which projects from the section 26 of the sleeve is provided with an end plughaving a bore 42 which conforms to the cross section of the terminal post 16 and a counterbore 43 which conforms to the external dimensions of an individual terminal clip. Plug 40 is utilized to push a terminal clip which has been previously placed on the tip portion of the post onto the post as illustrated in FIGURE 8. In carrying out this pushing operation, the operator grasps the sleeve 22 in his hand, locates the end of the plug 40 against the terminal clip with the terminal post in alignment with the bore 42 and pushes the sleeve towards the base of the post. During this clip pushing operation, the spring 32 will be compressed to a degree dependent on the force required for the pushing operation.

It has been determined that the quality of a clip-type electrical connection can be predicted, for a given clip size and post size, on the basis of the force required to push the clip over the surface of the post after the clip has been initially placed on the tip of the post. Thus, if the required pushing force is unduly low, it can be predicted that the contact pressure between the wire and the post in the finished clip-type connection will be insufiicient to establish a low resistance electrical connection. Accordingly, we provide indicium in the form of a band 37 on the surface of the projection portion 36 of the guide tube, the position and width of this band being indicative of the minimum and maximum pushing force required in an acceptable clip-type connection under given conditions of operation. The operator can thus determine whether or not a given connection which is in the process of completing will be acceptable by observing the position of this band with respect to the end of the sleeve section 26.

The other end 44 of the guide tube projects beyond the section 24 of the sleeve and has a lip portion 46 at its tip to assist the operator in aligning the guide tube with the terminal post during initial placement of the terminal clip on a post. A pair of diametrically opposed openings or slots 48, 50 are provided adjacent to the tip of the guide tube on diametrically opposite sides thereof, the slot 50 being relatively short while the slot 48 has a length substantially in excess of a length of a single terminal clip. A frictional drag device is provided intermediate the ends of the portion 44 of the guide tube to control movement of a strip of clips in either direction in the tube. This drag device comprises a semi-circular spring member 52 which extends through a slot in the guide tube and which is integral with a collar 54 mounted on the guide tube. The spring 52 bears against the strip of clips in the bore of tube 20 with a light force sufiicient to prevent the strip from falling out of the bore during handling of the tool.

A collar 56 is secured to and mounted on the sleeve section 24 and a pair of spring finger-s 58, 60 extend from this collar along opposite sides of the guide tube. The ends of these fingers are inwardly turned towards the guide tube as shown at 62, 64 and are movable through the previously identified slots 48, 50. The end section 62 of finger 58 has a chisel-like edge 66, the taper of this edge being suchthat it is capable of moving into the gap 11 between adjacent terminal clips of the strip 2. This chisel edge is cooperable with the inwardly turned end 64 of finger 60 to sever the leading clip from the strip and to trim an inserted wire. The inwardly turned ends of the fingers 58, 60 thus constitute a clip-supporting anvil and a cutter.

The end 44 of the guide tube is loaded with a strip of terminal clips by merely inserting the strip into the bore from the left in FIGURE 4. The strip is oriented during insertion in a manner that the leading ends of the clips (the ends on which the insulation support 10 is provided) are on the left-hand side of each clip as viewed in FIGURE 4 and the sidewalls extend upwardly. It will be noted that the end portion of the bore of tube 20 in the vicinity of the slots 48, 50 has a generally eggshaped cross section (see FIGURE 9) for the purpose of maintaining the strip in the orientation of FIGURE 4.

In use, the operator first grasps the fingers 58, 60 and inserts the stripped end portion of the wire into the passageway of the guide tube and between the sidewalls of the strip of clips contained in the passageway. The amount of wire inserted into the strip is not critical but should be in excess of the length of a single terminal clip and the end of the insulation should be located at the end of the leading terminal clip of the strip. He thereafter squeezes the fingers 58, 60 towards each other causing the chisel edge 66 to move against the wire although he does not trim the wire at this time. The operator then, and while retaining his hold on the fingers 53, 60, aligns the guide tube with the terminal post and slides the leading clip onto the tip of the post. During this operation, the left-hand side of the end 62 of the finger 58 will function as a stop for the end of the terminal post so that the clip will be positioned on the tip of the post and cannot be moved downwardly beyond the position shown in FIGURE 7. The operator then applies added pressure to the fingers 58, 60 to trim the wire and sever the leadingfi clip from the strip as shown in FIGURE 7. The tool is then moved axially away from the post and the clip will remain on the post by virtue of its frictional engagement with the post.

The operator then reverses the tool and positions the end of the plug 40 against the terminal clip as previously described, and, while holding the sleeve 24, pushes downwardly on the tool to slide the clip to its final position as shown in FIGURE 8. During this operation, he observes relative position of the band 37 which indicates the amount by which the spring 32 is compressed. As previously explained, the compression of the spring is responsive to the force required to push the clip onto the post and this force, in turn, is indicative of the quality of the finished connection.

After each use of the tool, the strip 2 contained in the passageway in the guide tube must be indexed to move the leading clip left'wardly beyond the plane of the cutting edge of the end 62 of the finger 58. This is done by pushing the end 36 inwardly with respect to the sleeve 22 until the leading clip has been moved relatively past the edge 66; in other words, until the right end of the slot 48 is in substantial alignment with the edge 66. The operator then squeezes the fingers 58, 60 lightly to flex them until the edge 66 is positioned in the gap between the leading clIp and the next adjacent clip. The leading clip should not be severed from the strip at this time and the pressure applied to the fingers, should, therefore, be relatively light. He thereafter, and while continuing to hold the fingers 58, 60 in their flexed condition, releases pressure on the end 36 of the tube causing relative rightward movement of the guide tube with respect to the sleeve 22. During this movement of the guide tube, the strip of clips will be moved relatively leftwardly since they will be held from movement with the tube (as it moves rightwardly) by the end 62 of the finger 58. After indexing the strip in this manner, a terminal clip will be positioned in the end of the guide tube as shown in FIG- URE 4 and the next clip-applying operation can be carried out.

Changes in construction will occure to those skilled in the art and various apparently different modifiications and embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. The matter set forth in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings is offered by way of illustration only. The actual scope of the invention is intended to be defined in the following claims when viewed in their proper perspective againit the prior art.

We claim:

1. A device for appiying a terminal clip to a terminal post to electrically connect a wire to said post, said device comprising, an elongated guide tube adapted to receive a strip of end-to-end connected clips, a sleeve slidably mounted on said guide tube, one end of said guide tube projecting axially beyond said sleeve, resilient means effective between said sleeve and said guide tube, said resilient means normally biasing said one end of said tube to an extended position with respect to the corresponding end of said sleeve, means on said one end of said guide tube for engagement with a clip which has been assembled to the tip portion of a post whereby said clip and a wire held by said clip can be pushed downwardly on said post upon pushing on said sleeve with concomitant compression of said resilient means, a pair of fingers on the other end of said sleeve extending along opposite sides of said tube, openings in the other end of said tube, said fingers being resiliently movable through said openings and against said strip of clips in said tube, and clip-severing means on the ends of said fingers for severing the leading clip of said strip from said strip upon movement of said ends of said fingers towards each other and through said openings whereby, upon inserting a wire into said other end of said tube and into the leading clip of said strip, and upon movement of said fingers towards each other and through said openings, said leading clip is severed from said strip and said severed clip can be placed on the tip of a post while being held in said other end, and said clip can subsequently be pushed onto said post by said one end of said tube with concomitant compression of said resilient means.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 including indicia on said guide tube proximate to said one end thereof to indicate the degree of compression of said resilient means during pushing of said clip thereby to indicate the quality of the connection between said wire and said post.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said clip severing means comprises inwardly turned ends on said fingers, one of said ends being movable between said leading clip and the next adjacent clip of said strip and the other of said ends being adapted to support said strip during severing, said one end being effective as a stop for said post during placement of said severed clip on said post.

4. A device as set forth in claim'3 including detent means on said tube proximate to said other end for con trolling movement of said strip into said guide tube.

5. A device for applying a terminal clip to a terminal post to electrically connect a wire to said post, said device comprising, an elongated guide tube adapted to receive a strip of end-to-end connected clips, a sleeve slidably mounted on said guide tube, one end of said guide tube projecting axially beyond said sleeve, resilient means eflfective between said sleeve and said guide tube, said resilient means normally biasing said one end of said tube to an extended position with respect to the corresponding end of said sleeve, means on said one end of said guide tube for engagement with a clip which has been assembled to thetip portion of a post whereby said clip and a Wire held by said clip can be pushed downwardly on said post upon pushing on said sleeve with concomitant compression of said resilient means, and indicia on said guide tube to indicate the degree of compression of said resilient means during pushing of said clip thereby to indicate the quality of the connection between said wire and said post.

6. A device for applying a terminal clip to a terminal post comprising an elongated generally tubular clip-holding member for holding a strip of end-to-end connected terminal clips with the leading clip disposed adjacent to one end of said clip-holding member, a pair of diametri cally opposed openings in said member adjacent to said one end, cutting means movable through one of said openings in a plane extending transversely of the axis of said tubular member, and a clip-supporting anvil movable through the other one of said openings whereby, upon inserting a wire into said one end of said member until the end of said Wire extends inwardly beyond said leading clip and upon moving said anvil and said cutting means relatively through said openings and towards each other, said leading clip is severed from said strip and the portion of said wire extending inwardly beyond said leading clip is trimmed from said wire, and said clip and wire can thereafter be applied to a terminal post to electrically connect said wire to said post.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,784,621 3/ 1957 Klingler 29-203 2,885,764 5/ 1959 Shulters et al 2933 3,136,040 6/1964 Bauer et al. 29203 3,151,389 10/ 1964 Stine 29-203 3,152,390 10/ 1964 Floyd 29203 WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS H. EAGER, Examiner. 

1. A DEVICE FOR APPLYING A TERMINAL CLIP TO A TERMINAL POST TO ELECTRICALLY CONNECT A WIRE TO SAID POST, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED GUIDE TUBE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE A STRIP OF END-TO-END CONNECTED CLIPS, A SLEEVE SLIDABLY MOUNTED ON SAID GUIDE TUBE, ONE END OF SAID GUIDE TUBE PROJECTING AXIALLY BEYOND SAID SLEEVE, RESILIENT MEANS EFFECTIVE BETWEEN SAID SLEEVE AND SAID GUIDE TUBE, SAID RESILIENT MEANS NORMALLY BIASING SAID ONE END OF SAID TUBE TO AN EXTENDED POSITION WITH RESPECT TO THE CORRESPONDING END OF SAID SLEEVE, MEANS ON SAID ONE END OF SAID GUIDE TUBE FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A CLIP WHICH HAS BEEN ASSEMBLED TO THE TIP PORTION OF A POST WHEREBY SAID CLIP AND A WIRE HELD BY SAID CLIP CAN BE PUSHED DOWNWARDLY ON SAID POST UPON PUSHING ON SAID SLEEVE WITH CONCOMITANT COMPRESSION OF SAID RESILIENT MEANS, A PAIR OF FINGERS ON THE OTHER END OF SAID SLEEVE EXTENDING ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID TUBE, OPENINGS IN THE OTHER END OF SAID TUBE, SAID FINGERS BEING RESILIENTLY MOVABLE THROUGH SAID OPENINGS AND AGAINST SAID STRIP OF CLIPS IN SAID TUBE, AND CLIP-SEVERING MEANS ON THE 